{"id":39063,"date":"2013-09-09T09:02:40","date_gmt":"2013-09-09T13:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/?p=39063"},"modified":"2013-09-09T09:02:41","modified_gmt":"2013-09-09T13:02:41","slug":"new-race-track-set-for-grand-opening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/2013\/09\/new-race-track-set-for-grand-opening","title":{"rendered":"New Race Track Set For Grand Opening"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The need for speed will finally be fulfilled, as local race car drivers will get an opportunity to accelerate down a new track, in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

The more than 100 race car drivers in the country, who were worried that the promises of building a new facility would not transpire, welcomed the news yesterday.<\/p>\n

The original site which was used by the Bahamas Hot Rod Association (BHRA) was turned into a parking lot for the new Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium.<\/p>\n

As a result, the multi-million dollar drag race facility is now located at the southwestern section of the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre.<\/p>\n

A soft opener is set for the Discovery Day Holiday weekend, October 12, announced president of the association Elwood Donaldson during an official tour of the facility yesterday.<\/p>\n

“We are planning a soft opening on the Discovery Day Holiday weekend where we will have a weekend of racing,” \u009d Donaldson said.<\/p>\n

” It might not be an all-out race weekend but we will have some races. We still have some more stuff to do out here (at the facility), we still have some construction.<\/p>\n

“We probably won’t have a full-time event until next year but we are working really hard for that.<\/p>\n

“We are working with the government and the National Sports Authority (NSA) to ensure that it happens.” \u009d<\/p>\n

A sound barrier and fencing around the perimeter will need to be installed by the government, before the electronic timers and other equipment are put in place, according to Donaldson.<\/p>\n

The construction of a new concession stand and bathroom facilities, as well as bleachers for fans, are all the association’s responsibility.<\/p>\n

The government is responsible for the construction of the facility, the site and other building materials, said Donaldson.<\/p>\n

He added: Once the government is finished with their part, we will be completing those items which we feel will take us another three to five months.<\/p>\n

“We are working on those very diligently with the NSA, the government and our sponsors.<\/p>\n

“From our estimate, the government, I think, would have spent anywhere around three million dollars on their part of it, and we will probably need another half million dollars to complete it.” \u009d<\/p>\n

Once completed, the track is expected to receive international certification from the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA).<\/p>\n

Frank Kohutek, the southern director for the IHRA, was on hand yesterday to officially announce their association with the BHRA.<\/p>\n

Kohutek said: “I was first contacted in 2005 by the BHRA about coming to The Bahamas.<\/p>\n

The executives wanted to sanction their facility so they flew me out here and carried me to the drag stripe, which is now the parking lot for the national stadium.<\/p>\n

“Even though I could not sanction the facility at the time, I could see the passion that these guys have. It was pretty amazing.<\/p>\n

“They brought me back again, and I met with the prime minister. This was before the big stadium was built. I was showed the drawing and what they had planned.<\/p>\n

“What seemed like a long time really wasn\u00e2 t, because everything is now in place.<\/p>\n

“The stadium is beautiful and the race track is really nice. They have done everything that I have asked.<\/p>\n

“They have followed the instructions in the letter. I am proud to have them join the organization.” \u009d<\/p>\n

The IHRA is the second largest drag racing body, that is sanctioned by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA).<\/p>\n

The body, which was founded in 1970, has certified racing tracks all throughout the United States of America (USA).<\/p>\n

They have also certified tracks in Canada, Puerto Rico, Aruba and now The Bahamas.<\/p>\n

By Kelsie Johnson<\/span><\/em>
\nNassau Guardian Sports Reporter<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The need for speed will finally be fulfilled, as local race car drivers will get an opportunity to accelerate down a new track, in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39063\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}